Friends
by cervi
Summary: Itachi has social anxiety. Sakura has anger issues. Kisame has a drinking problem. See how these three friends help each other, laugh, cry and enjoy life together. AU. One-shot series.


Sakura opened the door to her apartment and dropped her backpack in the hall. She just came back from a three hour lecture and she was hungry. Stepping into the living room Sakura couldn't help but smile. The sight of her clean apartment always did that. From the big beige couch to the sparkling white kitchen. People always wondered how she was able to afford this place, but splitting the costs with the Uchiha heir and a renowned swimming champion worked wonders. She went to the kitchen, praying for some leftovers from the pasta Itachi made last night. Her prayers went unanswered as she found the container empty in the fridge, most likely because of Kisame. _Bitch _

'Anyone home?' She called out.

She heard the opening of a door and Itachi scuffled into the living room. He sat down on the couch, knees to chest. He looked up at her and gave her a small smile. 'Good morning, how was your day?'

She gave up trying to find food and took a seat next to him. He looked bad, his hair was a mess and the bags under his eyes were worse than usual. 'Itachi, what's wrong?'

'I.. I'm not sure if I should go.' Itachi said. 'But I want to get to know him better and.. and.' He trailed of. He rested his face on his knees, as if to make himself even smaller.

She put her arm around his shoulder. 'Hey, it's okay.' She said softly. 'You don't have to worry it's just your cousin.'

He didn't give any sign that he heard her and Sakura could see him talking himself into a panic attack.

The doorbell rang, but neither made a move to get up. Kisame always forget that he had the keys until remembering he had them in his pocket. Today was no different. Not even ten second and he already opened the door in all of his 6.8 feet glory. His hair was wet, droplets of water fell onto his white t-shirt. He stepped into the living room and saw Itachi getting lost in his own thoughts and Sakura trying to keep him calm. _Oh fuck._

He dropped his gym bag on the floor and walked towards the kitchen and grabbed a beer. Sakura pinned him down with a blank look when she saw the beer can in his hand. He _almost_ felt guilty when he flopped down onto the long end of the sectional sofa. He cracked open the can. Itachi immediately snapped his head up and looked owlishly at the can and then at him. Kisame _did_ feel guilty now. He knew that with Itachi being like this they couldn't nag or distract him to not drink.

'So what's up?' He said, willing himself not to take a sip when Itachi and Sakura were staring at him like that.

Itachi took a few moments to compose himself. Sakura and Kisame waited patiently. They are used to this and forcing him to speak would only make things worse. He retied his raven hair in his usual neat ponytail, resting at the nape of his neck. Kisame looked down at the beer in his hand, debating if he should take a sip or not. Sakura made the decision for him as she lunged towards him, grabbed the can and chugged the whole thing down.

'You remember me telling you about my cousin Shisui right?' Itachi asked

Kisame uncrossed his legs and sat up straight, shooting an irritated glare at Sakura. She smirked in response. 'The one from when you were a kid?'

Itachi nodded. 'He wants to meet up and reconnect and I agreed. I.. I am considering not going.'

'Why not?'

'Because… Well because you know how I am.'

'I still don't see the problem.' Kisame did though, just like Sakura. It wasn't anything new. Itachi had to deal with social anxiety most of his childhood and even though it got better after meeting Kisame and Sakura he still struggled with it.

Itachi bit his lip. 'What if he thinks I'm boring or annoying or what if he doesn't like me and-'

'What if he does though?' Sakura cut in. 'He's the one with the curls right?' Itachi shot her a questioning look.

'I remember him from when I used to visit your place with Naruto and Sasuke. He wouldn't shut up about my pink hair.' Sakura's voice didn't falter and it was a testament to her self-control at the moment. Thinking of them always reminded her of everything that was wrong with her. How annoying and angry and stupid and – she clenched her fists. Pain usually distracted her from her thoughts.

She continued. 'He's social and nice, you won't have to worry about awkward silences.'

Kisame rested his head on his hand. 'She's right, you won't have anything to worry about.' He grinned, most people would get a bit unsettled at Kisame grinning with his unusual sharp teeth and rough jaw, but after knowing him for so long Itachi felt comforted by it.

'What if I panic?' Itachi whispered, voice so soft and afraid it hurt to listen to.

The thought of getting a panic attack in the middle of a café sent more knots down his stomach. He could see it happening. Him being awkward which would make Shisui feel awkward. The silences in between snippy conversations being enough to send his thoughts down the same repetitive lane _boringstupididiotfailure –_

'Shorty's coming with you.' Kisame said an grinned, she stole his beer (because you can't be trusted with it) she deserves to be called that. Sakura glared at him.

'Shut it fish-face.' She retorted. Sakura smiled at Itachi. 'but I'll join you if you want.'

Itachi immediately thought of her anger issues getting the better of her in the middle of a café. All those people watching, him being too weak and ashamed to do anything about it, Shisui wanting nothing to do with him anymore. He felt guilty thinking about one of his best friends like this, but he couldn't help it. His mind always made sure he thought of every possible way something could go wrong.

'I won't have an episode, don't worry about it.'

'I wasn't –'. Itachi stopped himself, because he was thinking about it. He wanted to hide in his room and never come out. She offered to help him and he starts thinking about how she would embarrass him. He didn't deserve her, he didn't deserve any of his friends.

'I won't get in the way of you. Just make some openings for you and sit back.' He held his knees tighter to his chest, he definitely wanted to hide now.

Sakura looked him and knew what he was thinking. A part of her, the part that was still lingering on the harsh words of her mom, felt good about him feeling bad. The thought of him worrying about her having episode made her feel ashamed, but the shame quickly turned into anger. _No, not now, not when he needs me_. She didn't want to think about how her palms looked like.

'Don't worry about it.' Sakura didn't have to clarify what she meant and Itachi looked even guiltier.

He took a deep breath. 'Won't he take offense to it? Maybe he will perceive it as me thinking of him as not good enough or interesting enough.'

'Nah it's a normal thing to do. Especially not if she wears _the shirt_.' Kisame wiggled his eyebrows.

Sakura rolled her eyes. 'Since when do I have a _shirt_.'

'Yeah, the dark green one.'

'Wait, do you mean the one with the mock neck?'

'No, that's emerald not dark green but that's also a good one.'

'Since when do you know the difference between dark green and emerald.'

Kisame shrugged. 'Since I started watching Rupaul's Drag Race.'

Sakura gave him a horrified look. 'You started without me? How could you, you two-faced bitch.'

Itachi cut in, his voice flat. 'Don't forget about how you started How to make a murder without me. The wounds on my soul will never be healed. Also no shirts which need any kind of emphasizing will be worn.'

Kisame let out a laugh.

'Now that that's fixed let's order some food. I had to listen to some old dude rant about chromosome anomalies for three hours. And someone ate all the paste even though I claimed it.' Sakura grabbed her phone from the back pocket of her denim jean. 'I vote Chinese'

'You always vote Chinese.' Kisame grumbled.

'It's filling and cheap.'

'I can make something if you want?' Itachi asked and smiled at his friends.


End file.
